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T O P I C R E V I E W

Robert Pearlman

The Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California is hosting an exhibit in 2009 in honor of the 40th anniversary of Apollo 10.

To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASAJanuary 31 through July 20, 2009

It is difficult to imagine -- although some remember it well -- the excitement that the race for the moon invoked forty years ago. As the decade of the 1960s was coming to a close, America and the rest of the world waited with great anticipation to see if NASA could achieve President John F. Kennedy's challenge, put forth in May 1961, of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Consequently, it was a very great honor, indeed, when the crew of Apollo 10 chose to nickname their command and lunar modules Charlie Brown and Snoopy, respectively. The flight of Apollo 10 in May 1969 was the "dress rehearsal" for the lunar landing that was scheduled for July 1969. Astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan piloted "Snoopy" within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface as they scouted the landing area for Apollo 11.

This exhibition looks at the history of Apollo 10 and the Peanuts characters' role in that flight and in the NASA Manned Flight Awareness safety program. It will feature a one-third scale model of the Apollo command module from the Johnson Space Center, an Apollo-era flight suit, the actual image of Charlie Brown that was flown aboard Apollo 10, and a special children's area for creative play.

quote:Originally posted by paul.i.w:I wonder if they have a photo of the attempted Snoopy 'gotcha'?!

Earlier this year, I put the Schulz Museum's curator in direct contact with Jamye...

keelerphoto

The Snoopy and Charlie sitting in the control room (pictured above) are called Pocket Dolls from 1966, you can find them on eBay sometimes.

Robert Pearlman

Click above to download full size (1728 x 2593, 360kb) image.

Ray Katz

Charles M. Schulz Museum release

Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 10 To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA

Just before the first man landed on the moon, Charlie Brown and Snoopy soared through space with NASA's Apollo 10 mission in May 1969. The Charles M. Schulz Museum is celebrating the 40th anniversary of this historic space flight with its newest exhibition, To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA, running January 31 through July 20, 2009.

This exhibition explores the Apollo 10 flight and the Peanuts characters' role in that flight and NASA's safety campaign. It will feature a one-third scale model of the Apollo command module from the Johnson Space Center, an Apollo-era flight suit, the actual image of Charlie Brown that was flown aboard Apollo 10, and a special children's area for creative play.

As the decade of the 1960s was coming to a close, America, along with the rest of the world, waited with great anticipation to see if NASA could achieve President John F. Kennedy's challenge from 1961 to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.The astronauts of Apollo 10 -- Thomas P. Stafford, John W. Young, and Eugene A. Cernan -- nicknamed their command and lunar modules "Charlie Brown" and "Snoopy," respectively, and carried sketches of the duo aboard their space craft. Stafford and Cernan piloted "Snoopy" within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface as they scouted the landing area for the Apollo 11 mission, scheduled for July 1969.

Four months before the first humans landed on the Moon in 1969, a beagle beat them to it.

More important than racing the Russians, or passing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, was that this "World Famous Astronaut" had beat "that stupid cat who lives next door."

rjurek349

This is an awesome exhibit! I am going to have to try to get out there.

kr4mula

The best part of all this, to me, is that the NASA-Snoopy relationship was authentic, not something either side paid (or was paid) for. The astronauts liked Snoopy, so they adopted him. Charles Schultz liked the space program, so he reciprocated. In this day of corporate-sponsored everything (The Doritos International Space Station, brought to you by Enron!), I doubt you'd see such a relationship build these days. And if it did, I think the lawyers would have issues with naming spacecraft after copyrighted characters.

In short, good for NASA and good for Snoopy.

KSCartist

Kevin - You said it best. There was a genuine admiration and respect between Charles Schulz and NASA - and it showed.

FFrench

This exhibition is now due to come here to the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

Robert Pearlman

San Diego Air & Space Museum release

New Snoopy Exhibition Opening September 12th

Just before the first humans landed on the moon, Charlie Brown and Snoopy soared through space with NASA's Apollo 10 mission in May 1969. SDASM's new exhibition To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA, opening September 12, examines the history of Apollo 10 and the Peanuts characters' role in that flight and in the NASA Manned Flight Awareness safety program.

It is difficult to imagine-although some remember it well-the excitement that the race for the moon invoked forty years ago. As the decade of the 1960s was coming to a close, America and the rest of the world waited with great anticipation to see if NASA could achieve President John F. Kennedy's challenge, put forth in May 1961, of putting a human on the moon by the end of the decade. Consequently, it was a very great honor for Peanuts when the crew of Apollo 10 chose to nickname their command and lunar modules Charlie Brown and Snoopy, respectively. The flight of Apollo 10 in May 1969 was the "dress rehearsal" for the lunar landing that was scheduled for July 1969. Astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan piloted "Snoopy" within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface as they scouted the landing area for Apollo 11 while John Young orbited the moon in the command module "Charlie Brown."

Peanuts creator Charles Schulz's involvement with NASA actually started a year before the 1969 flight of Apollo 10 when he was approached by NASA with a request to use Snoopy as their safety mascot. The Silver Snoopy Award program was instituted to improve the safety record of NASA employees and contractors. It proved to be a huge success with the astronauts and the employees. The Silver Snoopy pin is still a much-coveted award. Snoopy has been on the job for 40 plus years and continues to this day in his role as NASA's safety mascot.

In To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA, visitors will see Snoopy's trip to the moon in the March 1969 Peanuts strip series (beating NASA's record by a few months!), learn about the NASA's Silver Snoopy Award program, and view a Silver Snoopy pin that was flown to the moon. The exhibit also contains a children's creative play space where children can dress up like an astronaut and have their photograph taken with a life-size Apollo 10 astronaut.

(To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA is included with regular admission to the Museum).

FFrench

A mysteriously shrunken Fred Haise in the exhibition last night...

Charles Schulz's son was also there.

Shalene

Andy Chaikin visits To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA after his talk.

Robert Pearlman

Snoopy Soars with NASA's next stop is the Morris Museum in Morristown, New Jersey. The exhibit will be open January 27 through April 18, 2010.

While Snoopy Soars with NASA is on view at the Morris Museum, the museum's Bickford Theatre will offer Saturday matinee screenings of the NASA documentary "Apollo 10: To Sort Out The Unknowns". Watch the documentary to learn the story of Apollo 10, and how the May 1969 mission served as a dress rehearsal for the successful moon landing in July 1969. Family matinees will be presented Saturdays at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday January 30, February 6, 13, 27 and April 3, 10 and 17. Free with museum admission.

Saturday, March 20, 2010 is Astronomy Day. Join the Morris Museum Astronomical Society for a day of space exploration for the whole family. Tour the exhibition, To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA, and take part in a children's art workshop, lectures, telescope training and night sky observing. All activities will be at scheduled times throughout the day, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Free with museum admission.